Columns

Yang: Those Little Annoying Things In Our Daily Life Can Add Up

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Those Little Annoying Things In Our Daily Life Can Add Up
BY ELENA YANG

For instance, if the phone computerized recording tells me, “Remember, you must first dial ‘1’,” why couldn’t a program have been written that just inserts the “1” automatically? Or, when I key in my library ID number, with spaces as it appears on my card, I get, “please do not use space.” Then, why do you issue the card with the spaces (or, why not program to accommodate or ignore the “spaces”)? I am computer illiterate, so I am sure I miss nuances about programming. However, from a user’s point of view, my queries stand. 

When Read More

Cinema Cindy Reviews: ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’

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Reveiw by CYNTHIA BIDDLECOMB

‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ movie poster. Courtesy/Reel Deal Theater

“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is entertaining for those of us who, due to familial or marital commitments, must accompany someone we love to movies in the comic book/superhero genre.

After sitting through all the “pow, boom, splat” as we call it at our house, one does come out of the film taking the advice of SHIELD Director Nick Fury, “Trust no one.” If you take this kind of movie too seriously, the world will feel much less safe Read More

Izraelevitz: Happy Passover and Happy Shopping!

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Happy Passover and Happy Shopping!
By DAVID IZRAELEVITZ

Monday night begins the Jewish holiday of Passover, which commemorates the Exodus of the ancient Israelites from Egyptian slavery. Accompanied by friends, my family will be holding a celebratory dinner along with the ceremonial retelling of this story according to Jewish ritual, the Passover Seder.

There are many themes in this ceremony, the precious value of personal freedom, religion as a source of strength during adversity, many others. And if you will bear with me, the value of shopping locally here in Los Alamos.

The Seder has four Read More

Cinema Cindy Reviews ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’

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‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’
Review by CYNTHIA BIDDLECOMB

Movie poster for ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel. Courtesy Reel Deal Theater

“The Grand Budapest Hotel” director Wes Anderson’s latest cinematic romp, is all that we’ve come to appreciate about Anderson’s films (“Moonrise Kingdom” and “The Royal Tannenbaums”, for example), only better.

It is vastly entertaining, rich in minute visual details, and presenting a surprising scene at nearly every turn. The film earned four chilies (out of a possible four) Read More

This Week at the Reel Deal

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Column By JIM O’DONNELL
Reel Deal Theater                  

This week we are opening The Grand Budapest Hotel, Rio 2 and Need for Speed. We will hold Captain America for another week. Noah, Muppets Most Wanted, and Divergent end this Thursday.

After dozens of requests we finally got a print of The Grand Budapest Hotel after weeks of haggling. This comedy/drama is getting reviews in the 90 percent plus range. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Also on our short list, we plan to show 50-1, Read More

How the Hen House Turns: For Scooter—Dealing With Loss

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How the Hen House Turns:
For Scooter—Dealing With Loss

Column by Carolyn A. (Cary) Neeper, Ph. D.

Dogs seem to vary widely in their ability to create understanding from new evidence. When Turkey died, Scooter didn’t get it, but DeeDee did.

So it was not surprising that Scooter did not understand where DeeDee had gone when she died. Even the familiar body, so inert, did not trigger her curiosity, much less grief. After that day, Scooter wandered here and there looking for DeeDee. Obviously, she missed her life-long companion. We felt it was important to keep to the same familiar routine, but she couldn’t Read More

Food on the Hill: Spaghetti Frittata

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This Weeks Recipe: Spaghetti Frittata

 

Photo by Sue York/ladailypost.com

Ingredients:

3 cups of cooked spaghetti noodles (good way to use leftover noodles)
1 ½ cups of frozen onion and pepper mixture
2 tablespoons of butter
5-6 eggs
6 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
 
Directions:

Fry the onion and pepper mixture with the butter until the veggies are softer.

 
Photo by Sue York/ladailypost.com
 
Cool this mixture down.

In a mixing bowl, mix together the eggs and cheese. Add the cooked spaghetti, and cooled onion /pepper mixture, mix again.

Photo by Sue York/ladailypost.com
Read More

Yang: If I Were To Do A Study Or Two

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If I Were To Do A Study Or Two
By ELENA YANG

The publicity and controversy accompanying “Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother” at least spurred a special issue on Asian parenting by AAPA, Asian American Psychological Association: Asian American Journal of Psychology, Volume 4, No. 1, March, 2013. Perhaps the “The Triple Package” will compel some academics to conduct more rigorous research to address a few of the issues laid out in the book. So, I have been thinking about what I would have pursued if I were to have sufficiently generous funding. 

My research preference has always leaned toward “exploring” Read More

Solo Traveler: Dangerous Walking

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A typical San Miguel de Allende street, complete with a hole. Photo by Sherry Hardage
 
Solo Traveler: Dangerous Walking
By SHERRY HARDAGE

One afternoon I walked down the andador in San Cristóbal de las Casas. It is a street that has been closed off to traffic and repaved with nice flagstones for pedestrians. It’s always full of tourists, buskers and indigenous women selling crafts.

A tall European woman turned to watch a street performer but continued walking forward. If I hadn’t stepped aside she would have walked right into me!

When I lived in San Miguel de Allende for a short time, I saw a Read More

Healing Hands: Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy

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Healing Hands: Myofascial Trigger Point Therapy
By GREGORY BARTHELL

A trigger point is an area of muscle fibers that are in continuous contraction located within a tight band of muscle. This hypoxic “knot” (Partland and Simmons 2013) can be felt as a lump that twitches when pressed and can also be very tender, sting, and have increased referred pain.

Referred pain can be pain that has the same intensity as a trigger point in the same muscle but away from the trigger point itself. You can possibly feel these knots in your own neck and you already know how painful they can be.

People I work with who have Read More